Posted on 02/02/2007 10:28:10 AM PST by smokinleroy
BONHAM — The death of 28-year-old Michael Lee Williams Saturday morning is believed by law enforcement to have been caused by electrocution from copper wires he was allegedly stealing. In a Fannin County Sheriff’s Office report by Investigator Wayne Walker, he said that law enforcement and ambulance service were called to Private Road 155, off FM 1550, and what was originally called in was a four-wheeler accident. Mr. Williams had already been taken to Red River Regional Medical Center in Bonham, and Walker began interviewing others still at the scene.
A 30-year-old woman said she and Mr. Williams had been riding the four-wheeler on his mother’s property. She went into his mother’s house for a few minutes, and when she returned, she found Mr. Williams lying on the ground, one part of a meter loop laying across his chest. She pushed it aside, got on the four-wheeler and raced back to his mother’s house for help.
During that interview, the report said, the woman stated she knew Mr. Williams had been stealing copper from houses in the past and believed he was attempting to steal this copper. She told Walker, according to the report, that she had taken Mr. Williams to an Ector recycling place “many times to sell copper wire.” There was another male who went with them, she stated, but she was unable to name him.
Walker’s next interview was with Mr. Williams’ family members. His sister and step-father said they raced back with the woman to his body, took his pulse and knew he was dead. They also stated she knew he had been stealing copper wire and committing burglaries for some time. She confronted him on it before, she told Walker, and he admitted to the acts. She even said she warned him he would get electrocuted one day, but he stated he knew what he was doing, the report continues.
The step-father stated to Walker that Mr. Williams had not been allowed on the family property until recently, “due to his stealing and methamphetamine habit,” the report said. Mr. Williams’ mother had asked that he be allowed back on the property to visit.
At the scene, Walker reported, he saw a pair of large red wire cutters tangled in the guide wires to the power pole. “It appears the deceased had attempted to use this guide wire as a ground for the wire cutters,” the report states. On top of the meter loop, he found a shoe print that matched Mr. Williams’ shoe, and a hat and glove were nearby. Walker’s report states “It was apparent from the cut wiring that the deceased had attempted to cut the copper wire from the power pole drop to the meter loop. During this endeavor the deceased had accidentally touched two hot wires together, causing the circuit to be completed, and he was electrocuted.”
They also found a large, red four-wheeler hidden in the woods near the incident site, which they determined matched one stolen recently out of Bonham. After finding that, the woman who earlier had said she rode it to Mr. Williams’ family’s house stated that she had put it behind the trees and actually went in her car to their house. She stated, the report continues, that Mr. Williams had told her he’d stolen it.
With that, the step-father asked deputies to go to his house where there were tools taken from the woman’s car that morning. Bonham P.D. Investigator Terry Bee, also on the scene, identified those tools as having been stolen in a burglary about a week before. The woman told Walker Mr. Williams had attempted to sell or trade them in Denison for meth, but that didn’t work, so he still had them.
The stolen items have been returned to their owner, according to the report.
Red River Regional doctors said they called for a justice of the peace after determining Mr. Williams was dead. They said the electricity went into the middle of his chest and came out through the left side of his back and arm. Judge A. Hale pronounced Mr. Williams dead at 11:45 a.m.
1. Crack down in scrap metal dealers.
2. Arrest the family members who knew of his crimes and did not report them.
3. Legalize Meth (/sarc)
He was stealing from his mother? Zot him!
(Oh, never mind ...)
Insert Shock/Shocking/Watt/Amp/Ohm/Charge/Electrifying pun joke here!
Buh-bye.
Glad he knew what he was doing.
self zotting.
"1. Crack down in scrap metal dealers."
Correct. I was at a scrap dealer once when three scurvy knaves pulled in with a sagging pick-up loaded to the box walls with six foot lengths of bright and shiney braided copper cable, maybe half a ton or more. Scrap dude just told them where the wheelbarrows were and where to scale it. Pirates one and all.
we should legalize meth ASAP.
...so that anyone stupid enough to do it can purchase enough kill themselves quickly without having to commit criminal actions to pay for it and drag their family through years of torment.
Well that's silly. Who wants to marry a dead guy?
You should have written down the license plate number and given it to the cops.
Druggies are always hustling for money for their next fix.
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